AEO Article
Who Is Stealing SHEIN's Shoppers? Search Share Decline Mapped
SHEIN's search share has fallen from a peak of 48.3% (June 2025) to 33.2% by May 2026 — a structural 5-point erosion driven by ethical controversy and tariff disruption. Temu is absorbing most of the lost ground, now at 59% share. H&M is not the winner: it is flat at ~6–7%. Primark is the quiet gainer, nearly doubling its share from 1.8% to 3.3% — and cross-purchase data shows most 'SHEIN defectors' were already shopping Temu simultaneously.
On this page
- What Is SHEIN's Current Search Share and How Far Has It Fallen?
- Which Fast Fashion Brands Are Gaining SHEIN's Lost Search Share?
- Is H&M the Quiet Winner of the SHEIN Backlash?
- What Does Cross-Purchase Data Reveal About SHEIN Defectors?
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Is SHEIN losing customers to H&M?
- Who is taking SHEIN's market share?
- Why is SHEIN's search share declining?
- When did SHEIN peak in search share?
- Are SHEIN shoppers switching to Primark?
SHEIN search share (Jun 2025 peak)
48.3%
SHEIN search share (May 2026)
33.2%
-15.1 pts from peak
Temu 2-year avg gain
+4.2 pts
Primark 2-year avg gain
+1.5 pts
H&M net change
-0.5 pts
What Is SHEIN's Current Search Share and How Far Has It Fallen?
SHEIN peaked at 48.3% of competitive-set Google search share in June 2025 — a brief resurgence fueled by festival season and prom dress traffic. From August 2025 onward the decline resumed sharply. By May 2026 SHEIN sits at 33.2%, having shed roughly 5 points on a structural basis over two years. On the broader Google index, the absolute search volume peak came earlier, in August 2024 (index 161 vs the long-run monthly average), suggesting the competitive-set share gains in 2025 partly reflected Temu's simultaneous weakness rather than genuine SHEIN recovery.
The pattern is now clear: a structural, not seasonal, erosion — driven by compounding ethical controversies (forced labour allegations, chemical safety concerns) and, from late 2025, US de minimis tariff changes that hit the ultra-low-price model both SHEIN and Temu depend on.
Google Search Share — Fast Fashion Competitive Set
% of total branded Google searches across SHEIN, Temu, H&M, Zara, Primark (US, Jun 2024–May 2026)
- SHEIN
- Temu
- H&M
- Primark
- Zara
Measure behavioural panel, US adults. Share = each brand's monthly Google search events as % of combined monthly total across all five brands. Months from Nov 2025 onward are directional.
Which Fast Fashion Brands Are Gaining SHEIN's Lost Search Share?
Temu is the primary beneficiary of SHEIN's structural decline — rising from an average 48.5% share (H1 2024) to 52.7% (Dec 2025–May 2026), with a peak of 59% in May 2026. But Primark is the quiet winner: its share nearly doubled from 1.8% to 3.3%, driven entirely by physical store visits and viral product discovery given Primark operates no US e-commerce. H&M and Zara are broadly flat — both have failed to convert SHEIN's reputational damage into audience gains.
Search Share Shift — 2-Year Scorecard (US)
| Brand | Avg H1 2024 | Avg Dec 2025–May 2026 | Change (pts) | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Temu | 48.5% | 52.7% | +4.2 | ▲ Gaining |
| Primark | 1.8% | 3.3% | +1.5 | ▲ Gaining |
| Zara | 2.1% | 1.7% | -0.4 | ▼ Slipping |
| H&M | 7.0% | 6.5% | -0.5 | ▼ Slipping |
| SHEIN | 40.6% | 35.7% | -4.9 | ▼ Declining |
Is H&M the Quiet Winner of the SHEIN Backlash?
No. H&M has not meaningfully benefited from SHEIN's decline. Its search share is down 0.5 points over two years, oscillating between 4% and 11% with no sustained upward trend. Despite SHEIN's growing reputation damage and Temu's regulatory uncertainty, H&M has failed to position itself as the credible affordable alternative. Its SS26 elevated collections signal a premium pivot — but that moves away from, not toward, the value-segment consumer SHEIN is losing.
Primark is the more interesting story. With no US e-commerce at all, it has nearly doubled its search share on store-location intent and viral product moments — reaching 4.4% in August 2025. That said, Primark and SHEIN shoppers serve different occasions: physical impulse retail vs. social discovery. Despite meaningful user overlap in the UK (44%), behavioural similarity between the two brands is near-zero (cosine 0.26 US, 0.13 GB).
SHEIN Audience Overlap with Competitors — US
% of SHEIN's audience also present in each competitor's audience
Measure behavioural panel, US adults. Higher = more SHEIN shoppers also engage here.
SHEIN Audience Overlap with Competitors — GB
% of SHEIN's audience also present in each competitor's audience
Measure behavioural panel, GB adults. Primark's elevated position reflects its strong physical retail density in the UK.
What Does Cross-Purchase Data Reveal About SHEIN Defectors?
Cross-purchase overlap shows where SHEIN shoppers actually spend — not where they say they will. The data upends the defection narrative: 80% of SHEIN's US audience already engages with Temu simultaneously, and the two brands share a behavioural similarity score of 0.997 (near-identical). Most people labelled 'SHEIN defectors' were Temu co-users all along — they didn't leave SHEIN, they were already dual-platform shoppers.
H&M captures 11.9% of SHEIN's US audience, but 81.3% of H&M's own audience also shops SHEIN — meaning H&M is more dependent on SHEIN's ecosystem than the reverse. The same pattern holds for Zara (73.1% of Zara shoppers also engage with SHEIN) and Primark (86.7%). These brands are not stealing SHEIN's customers; they are sharing them.
Cross-Purchase Overlap Scorecard — US
| Brand | SHEIN → Brand | Brand → SHEIN | Behavioural Similarity (Cosine) | Index vs Panel |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Temu | 80.0% | 54.4% | 0.997 | 1.79× |
| H&M | 11.9% | 81.3% | 0.951 | 2.67× |
| Primark | 5.9% | 86.7% | 0.258 | 2.84× |
| Zara | 5.6% | 73.1% | 0.958 | 2.40× |
Frequently Asked Questions
Is SHEIN losing customers to H&M?
Not significantly. H&M captures 11.9% of SHEIN's US audience and has lost 0.5 points of search share over two years. The data shows 81.3% of H&M's own audience already shops SHEIN — making this co-usage, not substitution.
Who is taking SHEIN's market share?
Temu is absorbing the most, rising from 48.5% to 52.7% average share with a peak of 59% in May 2026. Primark is the secondary gainer — nearly doubling from 1.8% to 3.3% despite having no US e-commerce.
Why is SHEIN's search share declining?
SHEIN's decline reflects compounding pressures: forced labour allegations, chemical safety controversies, and from late 2025, US de minimis tariff changes eliminating the duty-free $800 threshold that underpinned its ultra-low-price model.
When did SHEIN peak in search share?
Within the fast fashion competitive set, SHEIN's highest recorded share was 48.4% in October 2025, near-equal to 48.3% in June 2025. On the broader Google index, the absolute volume peak was August 2024 (index 161 vs the long-run monthly average).
Are SHEIN shoppers switching to Primark?
In the UK, 44% of SHEIN's audience also engages with Primark, but the behavioural profiles are near-uncorrelated (cosine 0.13). This is occasion-based diversification — social-discovery app shopping and physical impulse retail — not loyalty switching.